The Equalizer: Wednesday's Child
by silver ruffian
Summary: Pursued by dark forces that seek to enslave him, Demon Dean Winchester becomes an urban legend, a fearsome vengeance demon on behalf of abused kids known as The Equalizer. The life of a Knight of Hell with the half-twisted soul of the Righteous Man is never easy. Up now: Dean ponders his next move against the brides of Satan. Cain drops by. That might not be a good thing.
1. bait and switch

_**A/N:**_ This is the expanded version of _The Equalizer_ drabble I wrote on 1/25/2015 for the SPN100 Drabble Challenge on . What the hell. It's a 'verse now. I wrote and previously posted an outside POV fic here: _The Equalizer: Daddy of the Year_.

 _ **Credit given:**_ First half of the title taken from the tv show of the same name which starred Edward Woodward (and the recent movie starring Denzel Washington). Second half? _Wednesday's Child_ is taken from the old nursery rhyme _Monday's Child_ :

Monday's child is fair of face, Tuesday's child is full of grace, Wednesday's child is full of woe...

 _Got a problem?_  
 _Odds against you?_  
 _Nowhere to turn?_  
 _Call the Equalizer._  
-the newspaper/internet ad for the tv show/movie franchise

Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.  
-Oscar Wilde

 _ **Summary:**_ Pursued by dark forces that seek to enslave him, Demon Dean Winchester becomes an urban legend, a fearsome vengeance demon on behalf of abused kids known as The Equalizer. The life of a Knight of Hell with the half-twisted soul of the Righteous Man is never easy.

 _ **Warnings:**_ Violence, weirdness, implied and explicit child abuse

 _ **POV:**_ Demon Dean Winchester

* * *

Ever hear of Bloody Mary?

Sure you have.

I ganked her way back in the day. I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about her when I got this gig.

Poetic irony's a purebred sonofabitch with teeth.

Word on the street is I'm a whole new animal now.

What exactly? Well, that depends on who you ask.

I'm a psycho killer on a bloody rampage.

I'm a guardian angel with a bone blade and a hair trigger temper.

Some say I'm the Devil collecting lost souls here on earth.

Maybe _all_ of that's true.

Or _none_ of it is.

* * *

 _ **Part 1 – bait and switch**_

Three triple burger platters with fries, two buckets of suicide wings, a bottle of Jack and four beers later I took a break and headed out to the parking lot. The Mark stirred underneath my skin, and the Blade felt heavy against my back. It was time to give them what they wanted and get back to the important stuff: food, booze, women and karaoke.

The Asian chick in the black biker gear sitting at the bar turned to watch me leave. Waist length black hair. Freckles.

Her dark brown eyes turned pitch black.

Nobody noticed but me. I nodded at her, put my thumb up and motioned towards the back door. _Come on. Let's get this done._

She nodded back, picked up her drink and swallowed it all in one gulp. Then she disappeared.

Nobody else noticed that either.

She'd been hanging around the Black Spur all day. She watched me eat, stared at me when I was up on stage singing "Honey I'm Good."

Damn shame. I knew she was Other from the moment I laid eyes on her. More than likely she was one'a Abaddon's groupies. They were all still pissed off that I ganked that bitch.

When I stepped out on the back deck she was standing in the middle of the parking lot. We were all alone out there. Her eyes were still black as pitch.

I smiled at her as I walked down the steps, slow and easy. I stopped ten feet away from her. "Hello, darling."

She smiled back. "Hello, Dean."

"What's a demon skank like you doing in a place like this?"

She didn't answer me. Didn't matter. I had no problem letting her make the first move. I'm a Knight of Hell with the Mark of Cain, remember? A quick kill, I'd 'port out with the body, dump it half a state away. Then I'd come back inside and sing "Rock Me Amadeus" just to piss the crowd off. I enjoyed doing that. They wouldn't know good karaoke like mine if it walked up and bit them on the ass.

Well, that was the plan, anyway.

I reached back for the First Blade. I remember how smooth the leather wrap on the handle felt.

Things got a little fuzzy after that.

The right side of my face went red hot. The light that went off behind my eyes blinded, me like somebody set off a flash bang grenade inside my head. Every muscle in my body seized up. It hurt like a bitch. I couldn't move. Couldn't even blink.

I never took my eyes off the bitch. At least, I didn't think I did. We were nose to nose now. I thought about raising my arms. I wanted to wring her damn neck, but I couldn't.

She never stopped smiling.

We weren't alone anymore. Shadows all around. Tall. The heads looked funny, long and forked like tree branches. I'd never seen anything like that before.

 _...take him..._

Something hit the left side of my neck.

What I saw in the air all around me was a blur. Snaky. They hit me again and when they were right on me I saw heads shaped like a triangle. Shiny red eyes. Fangs.

 _...tame him..._

I lost count of how many times I was hit all over. They came through the air like whips. I was alone in the center of the circle. I didn't know what happened to the bitch. She was the least of my worries. One strike after another, more heat and cold. Getting hit like that was the only thing that kept me standing. My knees buckled.

I fell forward into the black, and those damned voices followed me.

 _Bring him to heel._

Everything went black, and that wasn't so damn bad. I didn't feel anything anymore.

Didn't last long.

 _Wake up, big dog._

White hot pain flared inside my head.

 _IT WILL AWAKEN. NOW!_

I got it then.

I was dreaming before. Dreaming I was back at the Black Spur. Did a number on myself, my own personal mind fuck, just like some stupid human. I fooled myself. Tricked myself into thinking that I was back out in the wild. That I was free.

But I wasn't free.

And they wanted me to wake up.

I came out of the black and opened my eyes.

TBC


	2. smoke and mirrors

_**Summary:**_ Dean meets his new owners. That doesn't go well.

 _ **Part 2 – smoke and mirrors**_

* * *

My head felt funny. The light hurt my eyes.

The mirror above my head looked weird. There were two sets of symbols burned around the edges. The outer ring was black and moved clockwise. The inner ring was red and moved counterclockwise. I didn't recognize the symbols. The damn thing ticked like a clock as the rings moved.

With every other breath I saw my trueform in the glass, big, blond and wolfy. Not my first time seeing that. When I was out howling with Crowley I'd stare at myself all the time in mirrors until I got used to it.

I was naked, spreadeagled like an extra in a porn flick, tied down to that damn black slab by my wrists and ankles with black leather straps. Bruises and bite marks all over. The Mark of Cain looked dead. Lifeless.

Not the first time I ever woke up in some strange place naked and tied up, but that was back when I was human.

There was something else too. Didn't notice it at first. I had a collar around my neck. Wide blonde leather, silver studs, rings. The same symbols carved into the mirror were carved into the collar.

I moved my head as much as I could to get a good look around. The walls were puke green streaked with yellow sulfur. If I were still human the stink would have burned my lungs out, but that was the whole point. I wasn't human. Not anymore. I still had the Mark. Fat lot of good that did me.

I pulled at the straps. No give at all. Quickest way out would be good old fashioned brute force. I flexed my arms and legs.

No joy. _Sonofabitch._

All right then. Maybe I could teleport out of the restraints, Simple, right? teleporting was one of the first things I learned after I came back black-eyed, and I'd gotten pretty damn good at it.

I closed my eyes to shut out the glare from the mirror. Saw myself sitting at a table back at the Black Spur. Yeah, I'd be stark naked if this worked, but so what? Everybody could enjoy the view. I wanted to get back there so bad I could feel, taste and smell it. Hamburger. Fried chicken grease. Beer. Jack.

I gave it all I had.

Didn't feel any different. I cracked open my left eye. Nothing changed. Fuck.

The damn mirror over my head kept right on ticking away. Whoever grabbed me didn't put this gear on me just 'cause it looked pretty. The stupid collar and the freakin' mirror were some kind of containment mojo. I felt weak. Human. I hated that.

" _Hullo, sweetness."_

Well well. Just what I needed. Another set of hands.

Black Leather Asian Biker Chick. I didn't blink but there she was, lying beside me stark naked. Her breasts were perky and her skin was smooth and peach colored. Now that we were up close and personal I saw through the illusion. It was bait. Underneath her skin was pale and wrinkled like a shroud. She didn't have eyes, just two black shadows that covered half her face. A stump for a nose and no mouth. She was downright fugly. Don't know why I didn't see that before.

She ran her fingers down my neck and chest, pinched my left nipple between her thumb and forefinger. "Comfy? Anything I can do for you?"

 _Sure. You can die. Think you could do that for me, bitch?_

Instead I gave her the biggest, brightest grin I could muster. "I think we got off on the wrong paw - ah, I mean foot. I like kinky stuff as much as the next dog, but why don't you untie me, darlin'? I'll show you a good time."

"Really?" She batted her lashes at me. "You're not mad?"

"Nope."

"Good." She traced the symbols on the collar with her fingertip. "My sisters and I are doing you a favor. I hope you realize that."

I didn't say much. I wanted to keep her talking. I figured I'd find out about these damn sisters soon enough. "A favor? Really."

She nodded. "We're giving you a gift. The gift of purpose."

"Uh huh. Suure you are."

We stared at each other for a moment. She leaned down slowly and her lips parted. I lifted my head up. She made a pass at my mouth and then leaned in.

 _That's it, skank, just a little closer..._

She stopped. Her index finger flicked at the tip of my nose and she giggled like a schoolgirl. "Boop!" Sparks flew. The tip of my nose stung.

I blinked black, snapped at her fingertip and missed.

Everything went white.

 _The first shot hits me in the shoulder. I jerk backwards but I don't feel anything. The man fires again. A miss. I cover the distance between us fast and I gut him with the First Blade. He goes down as he bleeds out. When I kneel beside him the rings in my collar jingle. I like that sound._

 _I keep stabbing him until his chest is a bowl of caved in ribs and blood. My hands and face are covered with his blood. I throw back my head and howl long and loud._

 _I don't know who he is or what he's done. The only thing I care about is hunt, blood and death. It feels good. It feels right._

 _A tug on my collar from behind tells me to stand up. So I do._

" _Good boy."_

 _The sisters are all around me now. They yank my leather coat off, they pull me close they're all over me they dig their claws and teeth into my skin and I bleed and they kiss me all over, hurt me, touch me, and I want 'em to, I deserve this, I need this-_

I came back to myself with a jerk, all wide-eyed, panting like a damn dog. I could still feel their nails in my skin. Damn! That...that was a rush. "What-what the hell was that?"

She smiled at me. "That was your future. With us. We'll let you be the savage you were always meant to be. You wasted your hellbound gifts in that horrible place. There's much more to you than that. That's why we came for you. To show you your true path."

I didn't say anything. My heart beat so hard my chest hurt. That wasn't all.

She looked down at my hard on and smiled as she stroked my dick long and slow. I got it. This wasn't lust. This was ownership. She let go and put her ear against my chest. "You see? Your body knows. It accepts this. And that righteous soul of yours? The Mark wasn't able to twist it all the way. You're flawed, but you'll do, Dean." She nodded. "You'll serve, and serve us well."

"What the hell are you talking about? My soul?"

She ignored me. sat up. "I wish I could stay to see you break, but I can't. We're hunting the other one now."

"The other one?" I blinked green again.

She still didn't answer me. She sat up, stepped down and walked off. Ordinarily I would have enjoyed seeing all that tight bare skin but I knew it was fake. Didn't do a damned thing for me.

"Can't wait to see you when we get back, Dean. You'll like us better then." She didn't even turn around, just gave me this lazy beauty queen wave and walked into the far wall.

A dull heavy ache settled down behind my eyes. The collar throbbed around my neck in time with the mirror. Gift my ass.

I stared up at the Mark. _Hey. You._

Nothing.

 _If you got any mojo left, you better fire it up. Now's the time._

Satan's tramp stamp had nothing to say. Oh yeah, this was just wonderful.

"Woof. Woof."

The voice wasn't female. It was male. Sounded human. He wasn't.

I turned my head to the right. The black dude in the black business suit wasn't afraid of me, not even when I gave him a dirty look.

He stared me up and down. "Well. Aren't you a peach."

"So I've been told. And who the hell are you?"

"I'm the Fixer."

"No shit. You sound like a bad guy on the SyFy channel. And just what do you plan on fixing?"

"Not what. Who. _You._ " He loosened his tie, slipped off his jacket. There was a metal cart next to the slab. A black case sat on top of the cart. He put his jacket and tie on the second shelf.

"Oh, it's my lucky day."

"You may not know it yet, but you're absolutely right."

When he took off his jacket and tie I saw black ink on the backs of his hands and around his collar bone underneath his open shirt. The design looked familiar.

"You a djinn?"

Black suit nodded. He took his time rolling his sleeves up to his elbows. Lines and swirls of black ink covered the backs of his hands and ran down his arms underneath his shirt. The outline of the ink had a weird purplish red flash that came and went. I'd never seen that before.

"I understand you met some djinn back when you were a human hunter." He sneered. "Lowlife trash. Scavengers hiding out amongst humans, feeding on scraps. My clan is made of sterner stuff. We've evolved."

He stared me up and down again like he was measuring me and he finally settled on my face. "The wheel of the world has turned again. We return to the old ways. You should feel honored, Dean. No more wasted days and nights. You'll serve, just as you were always meant to."

"Take your best shot, buttercup," I drawled. "Ladies first. Unless you plan on talking me to death instead."

He ignored me and opened the case. "The first lesson is always the hardest."

"Do tell." I just knew I wasn't going to like this next part.

"The sisters own everything you are. Everything you have. Including this."

He held up the the First Blade.

 _Sonofabitch._

The Mark stirred underneath my skin.

 _About time, dumbass._

"Lesson number one." The Fixer smiled at me. "One must tear down in order to rebuild. There's no shame in that."

"When I get loose I'm going to kill you."

I felt better. The damn headache wasn't as bad. But I still wasn't strong enough to break the straps.

 _...come on..._

Fixer laughed. He put the Blade back into the case, then he climbed up onto the slab and put one knee on either side of my hips. I raised my head up and scowled at the large bulge in his pants. "What, you're not even gonna buy me dinner first?"

A cold purple light flared up in his eyes. His tats lit up underneath his shirt.

The Mark stuttered.

 _...come on, you sonofabitch..._

Fixer leaned down and opened his mouth. It was a damn freaky effect: he was lit up from the inside out. I saw his bones underneath this skin, I saw all the way down his throat. I clamped my mouth shut just as the bastard pushed his mouth against mine.

His tats crawled onto my face. They were cold to the touch. My jaws ached as I clenched even harder. Fixer pushed hard with his mouth and his tats. Wouldn't be long before he could pry my mouth open. I couldn't hold on much longer.

So I didn't. I opened my mouth wide open. He stuck his tongue inside my mouth. Never thought I would ever swap spit or play tongue hockey with a damn djinn. I decided to do him one better.

What came out of me was a large cloud of black smoke. Part of my essence. I wanted to pull that trick on Biker Chick, but I was too weak then. Since Fixer mouth fucked me that skin to skin contact was all I needed.

He jerked back. His cheeks bulged out. His eyes went from purple to black. He scuttled backwards like a broken legged crab and fell off the slab.

My skin warmed up as soon as he pulled away. I got the visual on two separate tracks: saw myself lying on on the slab, watched him stagger backwards.

Blood and screams inside his head. This bastard loved his work. He'd tortured Others. Humans. Men. Women. Kids.

He stood up and swallowed. I lost the connection. His eyes blinked purple again. Fixer looked at me and grinned. He glowed bright purple from the inside out. Thin dead smoke drifted out of his eyes, nose ears and mouth.

Awww, shit! It wasn't enough-

He reached into the case and pulled out the First Blade. He made a flashy pass in the air with it. "Clever boy. So very clever. I'm being paid to break you, but I'm going to enjoy it even more now. No one violates me like that. _No one_!"

He lunged forward and swung the Blade at at my head. All I could do was jerk my head to the right. The tip of the Blade ripped through my throat. My carotid artery tore wide open. Blood flew into the air.

The Mark sent a jolt of energy through me that made my ears ring. My head cleared. I felt better. Stronger. I didn't get it at first. When I raised my head and looked down I saw why.

The collar slipped off my neck onto the slab. Fixer's mouth dropped open in surprise.

That was good, but not good enough. The collar was dead but the mirror above my head still worked. I needed something to break it with.

I reached out with my teke and grabbed Fixer so tight his eyes bulged out and three of his ribs broke. I tossed him up. His fingers flew open and the Blade went flying off in the other direction.

For a moment we were eye to eye: he was eight feet above my head, eyes wide, shocked as hell. I smiled and winked black at him. When he hit the mirror shattered into a cloud of silver sharp glass. My good friend Mr. Gravity let go and Fixer fell. His arms and legs flapped in the air just like the coyote in those Roadrunner cartoons.

Another jolt from the Mark. I felt like my new self again. I teleported out, to the opposite corner where the Blade fell. Didn't even have to lean down and pick it up. It rattled on the floor and then flew up into my right hand.

Fixer face-planted into the slab and what was left of the mirror and the ceiling came crashing down on top of him. The air filled with cut glass but none of it touched me.

He was still alive, drooling, flopping around with his legs and arms bent at odd angles. Fixer's back was a pincushion of broken glass from head to toe. His eyes damn near bugged out of his sockets as he watched me walk over.

I smiled at him. "Why so serious, dude? None of this is going to kill you. But I will. And if nothing else I'm a man of my word."

I felt a tickle at the back of my neck. Faint, at first, then stronger.

 _...coming..._

They're coming.

The far wall turned pitch black.

Shadows. Hissing. They crawled forward on their hands and knees.

Time to go.

I grabbed Fixer's right arm and yanked him off the slab. He screamed as the bones in his arm grated together. As soon as I got him on his feet the fingers of my left hand turned to black smoke and I jammed my hand underneath his chin. His eyes turned black again and he calmed down in a hurry.

"Come on, you son of a bitch, let's go for a walk."

A head pushed its way out into the open. Red eyes. Twisted horns. Wide flat blades of bone.

The air around me flexed outward like a fist. The Mark flared up, like it was just as pissed off as I was and making up for lost time. The shock wave pulled the slab loose from its base and sent it flying at the mirror wall just as more heads poked out of the black.

The sisters howled.

Too late, bitches.

We were gone.

* * *

Sunrise in Texas. Seventy miles out in the middle of nowhere from a little burg called Rio Grande City, to be exact. Good old fashioned demon GPS. As soon as we got clear I knew that the sisters' playroom was in McCook, New Jersey.

Fixer sat on the ground rocking back and forth, staring up at me. His eyes were still black. I knew what he was thinking: You were the one who was supposed to be fucked up. _You._ Not me.

Cry me a river.

The Mark hummed underneath my skin. I felt good. Hell, I felt great!

The more I thought about this whole thing, the more pissed off I got. I sure in the hell couldn't go back to the Black Spur. That pissed me off so much my teke got away from me. I glanced at this clump of tall trees off to my left and yanked them all out of the ground. Ripped the hell out of the branches. I felt better, but I knew that was stupid. This situation wasn't going to unfuck itself.

When I turned towards Fixer he backpedaled on his hands and feet like I was the boogeyman. Maybe I was. This was the first time in his life he'd ever had his ass handed to him. He was right about one thing: his clan didn't feed off humans like regular djinn. He was a gun for hire, and judging from that oversized woody he had when he climbed on top me, here was a djinn who really enjoyed his work.

I had control of him, but there was a wall inside that I couldn't break through. As much as I wanted to crack him open like an egg, I didn't know if I had the time for that. If the bitches could track me every time I used my mojo or because of the Mark, I was screwed. I had to move on but I couldn't make this easy for them.

I pressed down on him with my teke so he couldn't skitter away like a broken crab. His eyes bulged out as I knelt down beside him. "The sisters. Who are those bitches? _Who?_ "

"...nuh...no...no..."

I gave him some inspiration in the form of four more broken ribs. They broke like dry twigs. Fixer groaned. Then: "They are...his...his...brides..."

"His brides? Who is he?"

"I...I can't..."

I broke his right leg in three places just by thinking about it. He screamed.

"What's his name?" He still wouldn't answer.

Okay then. I crushed more bones in his left arm, from his wrist up to his shoulder. He shivered and shook as I tore up his guts and squeezed his heart.

"DAMN YOU, TELL ME HIS NAME!"

Fixer threw his head back and screamed. "LUCIFER!"

Everything inside me came to a screeching, grinding halt. Even the Mark went quiet.

Well. This just kept getting better and better.

I reached inside him and snapped another rib. "Is he out of the Pit?"

Fixer's eyes turned glassy. He coughed up blood. It ran down his chin onto his chest. He grinned at me, dark and bloody, just as mouthy as ever. "They will...hunt...you down."

"Is he out?"

"...no hiding place...no shelter." Fixer seemed pretty happy about that. Downright cheerful. "You...will...obey. You...will...serve...

"The hell I will," I snarled at him. My touch turned from smoke to flame. He jittered and shook as his face melted and the fire took the rest of him.

* * *

 _ **Next:**_ Dean doesn't go looking for his first case. It finds him instead.


	3. wolf meets rabbit

_**A/N:** _ I keep forgetting that you guys are not in my head with me. When Dean refers to his 'teke' he means telekinesis, which is the ability to move and manipulate objects with his mind.

* * *

 _ **Part 3 - Wolf meets rabbit**_

I walked out of thin air into the living room at 4455 Leland Avenue. Salt Lake City, Utah. "The Walking Dead" played on the big screen tv.

I knew the demon sitting on the couch. He wore a green sequined dress. His right head was female. She was all glammed up with a black wig and green eye shadow. The left head was bald. Male. They rolled their eyes as Daryl and Rick ganked twenty walkers.

"Hey, Janus. What's up?"

Both heads turned around, nodded and eyed me from head to toe as I walked by. They grinned at me. The male said, "Hello, Dean." The female licked her lips. "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes."

"I need clothes." As I walked past the liquor cart I snagged a bottle of Russian vodka. Drank some once. Didn't like it. But this bottle was cut crystal, nice and heavy.

They both cocked their heads to the right as they leered at my bare ass and smirked. They talked at the same time. "We have some just your size, dear. A perfect fit, even with those broad shoulders of yours."

"You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not. _Bienvenida. Mi casa es su casa, boychick._ "

Yeah, right.

When I stepped into the hall the first door on my right opened up and a large man charged out. I smashed him in the head with the bottle. The bottle bounced off but it didn't break even though I put extra force behind it. If he were human I would have taken his head off. As it was the dude face planted into the carpet.

"Hi, Frank. How they hangin', dude?"

I made sure ol' Frank wasn't going to get up by stopping his motor functions. All I had to do was think about it. He couldn't grab me.

I tossed the bottle into the room he just left.

He lifted his head and spat out four front teeth. "Yuh...y-yuh g-got a l-l-lot of n-nerve (sounded like _nerf_ ) c-comin' b-back h-heah, W-Winchester."

"Nerve's one thing I always had plenty of." I stepped over him. I heard a noise behind me. I stopped, turned and looked over my shoulder at Janus. They had their cell phone out. I quirked an eyebrow at them. "Seriously?"

Both heads looked nervous as hell. They stiffened up as I froze them in place. "That's better."

I headed down the hallway into the back bedroom. "Thanks for the hospitality. I need some cash too. Where's Crowley's stash? His bank?"

The rack in the closet was full of clothes. I found a big brown leather weekender bag. I unzipped it and threw it on the bed.

"F-Fuck y-you," Frank gasped.

"Aw now, that's no way to talk to a guest, is it?" I put the First Blade on the bed. Picked out a pair of black jeans and a purple long sleeved t-shirt. A black leather jacket in my size. I threw those on the bed.

I picked up a pair of dark brown work boots, balanced on one leg like a stork as I measured the right shoe against my right foot. Perfect fit.

Frank mumbled something as I put on the jeans. I zipped up then sat down on the bed. Boots next. "What? What was that?"

"...n-not g-gonna...t-tell y-you...bas-bastard..."

"Sure you are. Otherwise I'm gonna scramble your brains." I stood up, slipped the First Blade into my back waistband, pulled the t-shirt over my head and slipped on the jacket. "I'm getting a real negative vibe from you, Frank. That hurts my feelings. And I can't be held responsible for what I do when you hurt my feelings. I'm a rare and delicate flower, y'know."

I smiled at Janus. "How about you? The sooner I get the cash the sooner I'm outta here. When I leave I'll let you go. Then you can go back to your zombie apocalypse kill fest."

Head number two looked like he had something on his mind. I loosened my hold on him a little bit.

"It's in the closet."

The female head glared at him. Frank snorted, disgusted. "Y-yuh w-wimp."

"It's in the closet. Behind the wall. Push down on the wooden frame."

"Attaboy." I reached in past the clothes on the rack and pushed. The door clicked, then slid back. The safe stood waist high. It wasn't warded. I leaned down to take a closer look.

"It's two turns, then 32 to the right, then two turns-"

To hell with that. I grabbed the handle and pulled the door off its hinges. I dropped the door on the bed. Female head groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Sweet." Tall bundles of cash in nice neat thick bundles. Some still had the bank band around them. The others had rubber bands. I pulled one out and flipped through the bills. Tens, twenties and fifties. Three hundred twenty thousand, by the look of it. The last time I saw Crowley he was pissed at me because I didn't want to become his attack dog. For all I know he sicced the sisters and the Fixer on me. This was payback. And even if he didn't I still enjoyed fucking with him.

Less than two minutes later I cleaned the safe out, filled the bag up and slung it over my back. "Now see, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

I walked back down the hall and stepped over Frank.

When I passed the booze cart again I picked up a sealed bottle of Jack Black. I cracked open the bottle, gulped a third of it down in one swallow. One for the road. "Well. It's been fun. We should do this again sometime."

I glanced at the big screen tv. Michonne was onscreen, taking out a crowd of walkers with her katana. She was pretty damn enthusiastic about it.

I blinked, and everything changed.

The living room faded away. I was on my knees. In a park somewhere at night. I looked down at myself, saw my bones through my skin. I was burned black. I had a katana in each hand. The blades glowed black.

Smoke and fog in the air all around me. I recognized the shadows gliding all around me. The sisters.

The next thing I knew I was back in the living room. Janus and Frank stared at me bug-eyed.

I didn't know what the hell happened. If this was a fucking vision, it was different from the other one. For one thing, I didn't get off on it. This was more like a hard thump upside my head, like maybe Somebody Upstairs or Downstairs was trying to tell me something.

I balanced the bag on my back, held both hands up in front of my face. The echo of being burned was strong but I wasn't burned. I'd dropped the bottle on the floor during the vision but it bounced on the carpet. It didn't break. Good thing, too. It's a sin to waste good whiskey.

All I wanted to do was leave. To go somewhere. Anywhere but here so I wouldn't get hit like that again.

So I did.

* * *

I ended up in Gary, Indiana. The old deserted Union Station, to be exact. Figures. Teleporting without a clear destination in mind was like telling my mojo "Surprise me." I'll be damned if it didn't oblige me.

The place was abandoned years ago. Used to be a large train station back in the day. It was just a shell now. Graffiti on the walls, broken concrete underfoot. The large windows higher up were open, no glass. Trash, bottles and syringes all around. Busted chairs here and there. I smelled stale air, dirt and decay and dried piss. The entrance was boarded up, but I sensed open air at the opposite end of the building. That was another way in.

I heard sounds.

"Lousy bitch. After all we've done for you. Teach you to embarrass me like this." A man's voice. Followed by the flat hard sound of a slap, then a whimper.

I cocked my head to one side. Female. Young, by the sound.

Somebody had put up a barricade of ratty looking couches, chairs and old metal desks in the left hand corner in back of the place. That's where the sounds were coming from.

Another slap. Then another. The young girl whimpered again.

Whatever was going on over there wasn't my problem. Not my circus. Not my monkeys. I had more than enough money. I could go anywhere I wanted.

I stood there and listened. More slaps. Apparently this sonofabitch wasn't shy about putting his hands on her.

That pissed me off.

And the odd thing was, all I could think about was something I'd seen at the movies once. Or maybe I read the book. I dunno. Everything before I died that last time kind of gets blended up.

Silence of the Lambs. __When the fox hears the rabbit scream he comes a-runnin'…__ ** _but not to help._**

But I wasn't a fox. I was a wolf.

I shouldered my bag and walked towards the back.

* * *

The girl and the big tub of lard behind her saw me first. She couldn't have been more than twelve. Cute kid. She had grey eyes. Brown hair. She wore a blue down coat, a green knit cap that looked like a bug-eyed frog.

Her face was bruised up.

I felt my right hand ball up into a fist.

She was stretched out on this dirty brown couch on her back. Tubby weighed four hundred pounds, easy. He had her by the wrists, both arms over her head. The second dumbass had his back to me. He pulled her blouse open, hiked up her skirt and spread her legs.

"You're going to be nice to us again, okay? And you're not gonna mention this to anybody." He glared at his buddy. "What the hell are you two staring at - urkkk!"

I stepped in, grabbed him by his jacket collar and yanked him into the air. When I let go he landed on top of a rusty metal desk a few feet away. The top of the desk caved in when he hit and he rolled off onto the floor.

I could have killed him outright. I didn't. I wanted to play with the bastard first.

He was her father.

I waited as he shook his head and staggered to his feet. Tubby let go of the girl. She laid there staring at me with this deer in the headlights look.

I dropped the bag. It hit the ground with a heavy thump that raised a cloud of dead grey dust. I peeled off my jacket and tossed it to her. Her hands shook as she caught it and covered herself.

I moved away from the girl and the couch. Tubby and the other sick fuck moved with me. Lard ass was behind me. Dumbass was in front.

Daddy dearest laughed. He had a long thin face like a rat. "Awww, that's sweet. You some damn do-gooder? That what this is, pretty boy?"

I chuckled, then blinked black. "Nope. Joke's on _you_ , pal."

He frowned when he saw my eyes, but he reached under his jacket and pulled a Bowie knife out of a leather sheath clipped to his waistband. He wasn't going to back down. Neither was Tubby. Stupid travels in pairs and sometimes runs in packs. Wouldn't have made any difference to me if they had.

The Mark sang underneath my skin. It wanted to be fed.

Tubby pulled what looked like a flashlight out of his jacket pocket. He charged at me while his buddy waited and I didn't move out of the way. He stuck the flashlight into the small of my back and hit the button. Electricity crackled and spat against my shirt and my skin. Bastard had a stun gun flashlight.

It tickled. I turned around in my space so fast dumb fuck never knew what happened. We were nose to nose and I grabbed his right arm by the wrist and twisted it hard, down and to the side. His bones snapped like dry twigs. Tubby yelped. His eyes went wide when he saw I had the stun gun in my right hand.

When the girl covered herself with my jacket I saw fresh burn marks from the damn stun gun on the lower inside of her left thigh. Well. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, right? Karma is a purebred bitch with teeth.

Lard ass tried to pull away but I froze him in place. I used my teke to ply his mouth open. His eyes bulged out. I jammed the ON button, supercharged the battery just by thinking about it. Bright blue sparks crackled between the prongs.

"Open wide and say ahhh, you sonofabitch."

I jammed the stun gun into his mouth, pushed it in halfway. His teeth scraped against the metal barrel; his wet tongue came up against the prongs.

His back arched. Every muscle in his body stiffened. Grey smoke poured from his every opening in his body. He jittered backwards a couple of steps. His hair stood on end; his face blackened and ran like a melted candle. Sparks flew out of his mouth, around the barrel of the stun gun. He stiffened up and fell backwards. When he hit the ground dust flew, but the battery still had juice in it. His whole body jerked as it zapped him over and over again. He smelled like cooked pork.

Daddy moved. He didn't charge at me. He went for the girl instead. His eyes had this hard flat shine. He was going to use her as a shield.

She moaned, low in her throat, desperate and sad, as though she wondered why she thought she was ever going to be free of the bastard.

That _really_ pissed me off.

Daddy moved fast but I was faster. I got between him and the girl, reached underneath my shirt and pulled out the First Blade. I gave a flick of my wrist. Twice. Steel flashed in the air between us, then he stepped back. His knife hand was empty.

He grinned at me. "You missed me. But I got you."

His knife stuck out of the left side of my chest. The handle moved up and down as I breathed.

I looked down at it and smirked. "That tickles."

The knife glowed red. It crumbled into dust. That left a hole in my shirt, not my chest.

Daddy dearest's jaw dropped open. That wasn't the only thing that dropped. His right hand slid off his arm at his wrist. It flopped into the dirt at his feet.

He stared down at his stump. Then his left hand slid off too.

His eyes went wide as his clothes and skin unzipped from his throat to his belly. Blood pumped out of him in a flood, from his chest, belly and stumps. His heartbeat revved up to three times normal because of the blood loss. He gurgled foamy white spit and more blood, then he staggered forward a few steps. His knees buckled as his body finally realized he was dead and he face planted into the dirt.

I turned towards the girl and blinked green. She wasn't afraid of me, not even after she saw my eyes change or the way I moved. Didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that I wasn't human. She might not have known exactly what I was but compared to what dear old dad put her through I wasn't the worst thing she'd ever met in her life.

 _Kill her._

The whisper inside my head was female. I knew who it was.

 _Oh. Now you're talking, huh?_

The Mark purred. _It would be a kindness. She won't have to go through life remembering what they did to her. She'll go to Heaven._

I sneezed loudly.

 _What was that?_ The little girl looked just as confused as the Mark sounded.

 _Sorry, I'm allergic to bullshit._

 _DO IT! USE THE FIRST BLADE ON HER. NOW!_

I waited for my guts to twist up into knots, for the inside of my head to go nuclear with red hot pain. Nothing happened. After I came back black-eyed I was slow to kill with the Blade. The Mark made me as sick as a dog then. Now I didn't feel anything at all.

 _Kill her! Cain would do it._

 _You're in luck, sweetheart, 'cause I'm not Cain. Now you can try to force me. Hurt me. But I don't think you can. Looks like that part of your game just isn't working anymore, is it?_

The Mark didn't answer.

 _Maybe that 'shifter bitch back at the sisters' den was right. You couldn't twist my soul up all the way, could you? I never really believed that bullshit about me being the Righteous Man, but I'm a believer now. You're not going to kill me. You want to live just as much as I do. So fuck you. I'm not killing her. She's just a kid. She didn't ask for any of this. And she sure in the hell didn't deserve what was done to her._

I knelt down and wiped the Blade clean on daddy's jacket. I slipped it into my back waistband, then I went through the sick fuck's pockets. I found his cell phone, flipped it open and punched three numbers.

"911. What is your emergency?"

The voice that came out of me was bass deep and weird sounding. _"A young girl needs help at Union Station. Send the cops and paramedics. And you might as well send the meat wagon too."_

"And why is that, sir?"

" _Because I just killed the two bastards who abused her."_

"What? Who is-"

Enough damn talk. The phone burst into flames in my hand as I nuked it.

I stood up and tossed what was left of the phone to the ground. They wouldn't be able to get any fingerprints. I made sure of that.

I turned towards the entrance, raised my right arm, palm out. I didn't really need to do that. Line of sight works just fine to send my teke where I want it to go. But that move looks cool like in the movies so I do it sometimes. The barrier of chairs and sofas parted like the Red Sea. The shock wave fanned out over the rubble, kicked up dust as it went. The boards over the front entrance blew open.

I spotted a decent looking wooden bench over to the side. It looked sturdy enough. I 'ported it out front with just a glance.

When I stepped over her dad's body the girl didn't even blink. "Come on. Let's get you out of here."

I held out my hand and she took it.

* * *

It was dark outside. The street lights came on five minutes later. She was a little wobbly on her feet. I sat down beside her on the bench.

Her hands twisted together in her lap, over and over again. "I'm Anna Wallace. What's your name?"

"Dean Winchester."

She nodded at me. "Thanks, Dean." Little by little her hands stopped moving. She relaxed.

Sirens in the distance. The cops were two minutes out. I shouldered the bag. Wouldn't be long now.

"Here." She tried to slip out of my jacket.

I shook my head. "Keep it."

She gave me a hard look, as if she didn't really believe me. Most of the adults she ever knew probably lied to her. Why should I be any different?

"It's okay. Really." I smiled at her. "Keep it."

She shivered and pulled my jacket around her shoulders even tighter.

"You got people you can stay with after this?"

"My aunt and uncle. They live in Chicago. Aunt Elaine's a school teacher. Uncle Matt does something with cars. My mom left years ago."

"Your aunt and your uncle," I said slowly. "Did they know about-"

Anna shook her head. "No. He said he'd kill them if I told."

Sirens just around the corner.

"I'm sorry this happened to you." Yeah, I know that was lame, but I couldn't think of anything else to say. She nodded.

I didn't know what she was going to tell the cops, and I really didn't give a damn about that or her knowing my real name. I had a pack of rabid hell bitches hot on my tail. Being tracked by Sam or local law enforcement was the least of my worries.

Flashing red lights at the corner down the street. Local law enforcement had finally arrived.

I faded out.

Gone.

* * *

TBC this week.


	4. gone sideways

_**Chapter 4 – gone sideways**_

Five minutes later I was alone at the top of the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge. The metal creaked and groaned like a tired old man. I was nearly a thousand feet up, under open sky, right next to a flashing red airway beacon.

The cars on the bridge and the lights of the city below spread out to the horizon. Bright lights, moving colors. The sky was a mix of deep orange and bluish purple as the sun slowly set.

The duffel full of cash sat at my feet. I reached down and pulled out my bottle of Jack. I leaned against the railing, uncapped the bottle and took a long first swallow.

Hello, beautiful. Welcome to Cali.

My skin prickled at the memory of warm breath against my skin.

" _We'll let you be the savage you were always meant to be."_

" _I wish I could stay to see you break, but I can't. We're hunting the other one now."_

The other one. Cain. They were hunting Cain too.

So maybe his vow to Colette to give up his old ways wasn't the only reason he hid out. That made sense. If the brides got both of us they'd have a matched set, the only two Knights of Hell with the Mark of Cain.

Fuck 'em. I wanted to kill one of them right then. That _wasn't_ the Mark. That was _me_.

I took another long swallow of Jack, raised both arms out to my sides with the bottle fisted in my right hand.

"Here I am, skanks!" I yelled out. "Come and get me!"

Nothing happened.

The first vision they slipped inside my head felt good. The feel of warm blood against my skin. The weight of the First Blade in my hand. The sisters licked me, bit me all over. Their bodies pressed against mine.

" _Good boy."_

Yeah, I'm twisted. I'd be lying if I said a part of me didn't like that.

I took another long swallow of Jack. Didn't do a damned thing for me. Tasted like apple juice. I could drink like a fish and never get drunk.

I really wanted to get drunk now.

All around me people were going about their lives, they were living and dying, and all I could think of was that damn collar, the way it felt around my neck Those snaky bitches wanted to bring me to heel. The collar was a gift, they said. They weren't just any fugly bitches, they were Lucifer's brides. My luck couldn't run any worse than this.

Options? Two came to mind. I could go crawling back to Crowley, ask for sanctuary in Hell. Yeah, right. He might let me in, but stealing the bank from his safe house burned that bridge. Nuked it probably. Even if it didn't I had no doubt that the sisters could stroll right in and take me no matter what corner of Hell I was in. Option one ends with me collared, even more of Lucifer's hound than I already am.

Option two sucked big time. I could go back to Sam and let him 'cure' me. A little Latin, a lot of blessed blood. That dumbass cure of his might turn me human again, but I'd still have the Mark.

But I don't wanna be cured. I'm not broken. I don't need to be fixed. If I wanted that I wouldn't have bailed in the first place.

If the sisters could track me because of the Mark, I was _still_ screwed, even if I were turned human. They'd probably gank me to get me black eyed again. I'd be back right where I started. Do not pass go, put on the collar, shut the hell up and be a good little doggie.

And what the hell was all that crap about my soul not twisting all the way? I didn't buy that for a second. I felt great. Better than I ever did before. I didn't give a damn about anything or anyone except myself. I meant to keep it that way.

Yeah, I could tell myself that bullshit. Thing was, not ten minutes before I rolled into California I saved a little girl named Anna Wallace in Gary, Indiana.

I could have walked away.

I didn't.

Some Knight of Hell I was. A real demon wouldn't have given a damn about her. A real demon would have pulled up a chair and watched as her dad and that fat fuck raped her. Either that or joined in.

That wasn't an option either.

I drank half the bottle in one gulp, then sat back and watched the planes overhead in the darkening sky. They looked like bright white stars. I heard the roar of the engines, saw blinking red lights. It was peaceful up there on the bridge.

And I knew I couldn't stay there.

I capped the bottle and dumped it back in the duffel. Be a shame to waste good booze. I had enough cash to last for months, and when that ran out I could always get more.

I shouldered the duffel and took one last look around. My stomach growled. Damn. I couldn't remember the last time I ate. Or what I ate, for that matter. Time to get some food and a decent room for the night.

I'd never been to San Francisco, but I figured I could make my way around. I glanced at the lights on the other side of the bay. Looked like diamonds somebody spread out on a black blanket. That was as good a place to start as any.

Well, that was the plan, anyway.

I didn't reach out with my mojo.

Something reached out and grabbed me instead.

The space around me became thick and heavy. My body felt weird. Weak. I fell back against the railing. My muscles locked up tight.

Whenever I 'port out I always have total control. It's just like driving a car.

Not this time.

Whatever this was pulled me away. I couldn't stop it. Everything went pitch black around me.

* * *

Long dark shadows in the trees and grass. Full moon overhead. I was in a forest somewhere. Didn't know where. My demon GPS was busted this time, but not all my mojo was broken.

I tightened my hand on the strap of the duffel. At the same time I reached into my back waistband with my right and pulled out the First Blade.

We weren't alone.

The dude wearing all black was right behind me. He stood in deep shadow. Shoulder length grey hair. Bites and scratches on his face and hands. His clothes were torn and ripped up.

I turned and made my move.

He grunted as I put my shoulder into his chest and slammed him backwards into the trunk of the nearest tree.

I put the Blade underneath his throat. His scent was familiar but I smelled the sisters on him. If I moved the Blade backward I could take his damn head off. It took everything I had inside me not to do that.

I looked him in the eyes and showed my teeth. "Cain. So what's up?"

Cain slowly raised both arms out to his sides. His hands were empty. No weapons.

He stared at my face and smiled. "The brides were right. The soul of the Righteous Man resisted the Mark of Cain. It's a Mexican standoff, as they say."

"Am I gonna have to make you regret bringing me here, Cain?" I wanted to gut him with the First Blade so bad my fingers ached.

"I didn't. The Mark did. She called out to you."

This was pretty damned I glanced down at his right arm. I could hear his Mark singing. "Like calls to like. Is that what this is?"

Cain gave me another sideways glance like he was measuring me. "Well, boy? Are you just glad to see me or do you have something else in mind?"

I tried not to breathe, but that didn't work. I tasted the stench of those hellbitches on my tongue and the roof of my mouth, sulfur and what tasted like peppermint all mixed together. "Dude, in case you haven't noticed, you reek."

"Couldn't be helped." Cain shrugged. "They swarmed me."

I flashed back to the melee in the Black Spur parking lot, how the air all around me filled with snakes, fangs and poison. Yeah, those bitches were really good at that. "Kill any?"

He was so damn calm he was frosty. "A hundred or so. For every one I killed ten took her place. I felt it best to take my leave then."

Nothing about Cain changed. But everything did. I felt it. The hair at the back of my neck stood up, stiff and painful. I should have kept my mouth shut and played along. I didn't.

I heard hissing. Far away, but getting closer.

"Huh. Then if you were so busy killing those bitches when did they have the time to tell you about me?"

Cain moved so fast he was a blur. If I hadn't ducked and jerked backwards he would've taken my head off. The edge of the machete in his right hand flashed silver in the moonlight. That was when I realized he had the damn thing up his sleeve all along.

He grinned at me. "I'm supposed to take you back in one piece, Dean. One piece, or two. The brides won't mind. After all, you might lose your head, but the Mark won't let you die."

 _Sonofabitch._

TBC this week


End file.
